I have the Sandisk Sansa e280, the 8G refurbished for $60 from Buy.Com, got it 7-16-2008. Also got an 8 Gigabyte microSD, arrived today, to make it a 16 Gigabyte model effectively. (Yes it is Rockbox'd.)

That said, at this point I barely even use 4 Gigabytes, having used a 4G Sansa m260 with about 700 megabytes left over. Even before I add any songs, though, that may change as the original configuration consisted of my MP3s converted to 80k-96k WMA files, I've going back to the MP3s (most, although not all, of which are 128k files). I had used the 80-96k WMA files to save space--now with 16G available, looking at going back with MP3s since they're universal and wouldn't be a "downgrade" as it were (although the 96k WMA files especially actually seem to sound pretty good).

Now that I've blabbed, the real point of my thread--the Clip appeals to me as a designated work-out companion--whether it's bicycle-riding, playing basketball, that sort of thing. I love how it just clips to your hip or shirt as-is, and the easy-to-press 5-way would help with changing songs by feel. (In working out, I often-times have it shuffle all songs, or may use a playlist). The simple display seems like something I wouldn't mind if it caught a few scuffs, as opposed to the more luxurious one of the e280.

I'm not looking to replace the e280 I've only had a week, I love it, I just like the idea of the Clip as a work-out buddy. The m260 I had before is no longer because it wouldn't stay on my hip while playing basketball, I became upset and stomped on it (nice move!). Otherwise it would be my work-out model.

So, the questions:

(1) The Clip is roundly praised for its sound quality. I actually find my e280 good-sounding, would listening to the Clip then cause me to become dis-satisfied with the e280 which I currently think sounds good?

(2) So far the Clip, which doesn't have microSD expansion ability, comes as a 4 Gigabyte model. The songs so far which I have are less than that, but I would rather have an 8 Gigabyte model I am sure that would be plenty. Any word on a possible 8G version coming up?

(3) Maybe a Fuze instead? Then again, no clip--and while the Fuze or e280 are hardly monster-sized, that Clip--so small!

(4) Sorry for such a "loaded" thread--but have any of you that have listened to 80-96k WMA files found them inferior sound-quality wise? Otherwise that configuration might work with a 4G clip.